Napa County Biographies
J. B. ATKINSON
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
The splendid double stone wine-cellar at Rutherford, of Messrs. Ewer & Atkinson,
is one of the sightly structures in the county, and upon examination was found
to be as well arranged and fitted as could be the case and a model of
convenience. In dimensions the main cellar is 120 x 97 feet in size, two
stories in height. It consists of two cellars adjoining with a stone wall
running through. At the rear is an addition 25 x 40 feet in size, four stories
in height, where all the wine-making is done, the upper floor being the crushing
room, to which the grapes are raised by elevator. On the next floor are two
large tanks for white grapes. On the next lower are the presses, while on the
ground floor will be the bottling room when everything is in running order. The
first half of the cellar was erected in 1885, and the other half in 1889. The
total capacity is about 400,000 gallons of wine. It is the intention shortly to
put up a distillery in connection with the cellar. The building is entirely of
stone and iron, and therefore secure from fire. Water is in plentiful supply
from artesian wells, and the building is supplied with automatic bells
throughout. Adjoining the cellar Mr. Ewer has 100 acres of vines, while a
little south of Rutherford Mr. Atkinson has a vineyard of 115 acres surrounding
his comfortable home.
Mr. J.B. Atkinson is a pioneer to California, and for a great many
years has been a leading spirit in the mercantile and financial circles. He is
a native of New Jersey, born in 1827. In 1849 he determined to come to
California, although not yet out of his �teens. He took passage on the ship
Sarah and Eliza, landing safely after a long and tedious voyage of seven months
and twenty days with but one stop, at Valparaiso, in San Francisco, September 7,
1849. Like all the rest of the world he went to the mines, going in 1850 to the
upper waters of the Yuba River. He soon came back, however, and entered into
business in the city of San Francisco, and for twenty years was one of the most
prominent wholesale merchants of the city of the Golden Gate. Perhaps no firm
in the city enjoyed a better rate or a greater popularity than that of L.
Atkinson & Co. Since 1855, when he settled down to business, he has been going
back East nearly every year. Ten years ago, in 1880, he decided to abandon the
more active part in affairs and retire from business to his elegant ranch at
Rutherford. It consists of 154 acres, of which 115 is in vines. He is largely
interested elsewhere, however, aiming rather to see the better side of life and
leaving his foreman to take charge of the ranch. He is interested in the Napa
Valley Wine Company, in the California Hosiery Company, and is a Director in the
St. Helena Bank, etc. He is married but has no children. He is one of the most
able business men, a man of staunch integrity and a leading figure in anything
he undertakes.
SOURCE: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis
Publishing Company, 1891. pg. 303-305.